The Halfway Place {District 7 plot}

Ludmilla Stretton, aged 18 reserved for Kheft

It seems as though Ludmilla has been slowly dying for as long as she can remember, something wearing at her spirit and her body as slowly as the tide on a cliff face and no one can tell her why or what is killing her. It’s as though a disease is playing a twisted, languid game of cat and mouse with her life. One day it lets her go and she is feeling much better, really, honestly, but somehow she always seems to get sick again. The rattling breaths that echo through the Halfway Place usually belong to Ludmilla, as she hauls her emaciated frame out of bed during the day- trying desperately to escape the confines of her room, though her step mother insists she is too frail. Like her body, Ludmilla’s mind is incredibly weary, often creaking but never snapping, quietly bearing the burdens of her body with a certain patience and grace, though it gets harder every day. Ludmilla is the daughter least close to her father, partially for the striking resemblance to her late mother and for her unknown illness which makes Joss incredibly wary of her- he has expected her to die for a very long time now, and keeps his distance as though her death is an inevitability and almost contagious. Because she is so like her mother, Joss believes that Ludmilla is the daughter most prone to succumb to madness but in reality Ludmilla is the most docile of the three. Her siblings though, are incredibly devoted to and protective of her.

Lucilla Stretton, aged 18 reserved for Charity

If the Stretton family have one universal flaw, then it is a hot temper and Lucilla, the oldest of the Stretton children, is the worst of them. Her passionate nature makes her akin to a thunderstorm, quick to judge, changeable as the sea- one moment she is laughing and happy, the next she is throwing furniture and yelling through her tears, Lucilla has been the same way ever since she was a small girl. Over the years though, her passions have only worsened, particularly when applied to men. Lucilla is incredibly beautiful and aware of it; being pandered to and adored is her very favourite thing in the world. With such a fire in her belly, Lucilla burns through people with characteristic speed and her attention span is short to say the least- though honestly, her emotions are always genuine they never seem to last long enough for anyone else to quite wrap their heads around them. Her sisters will say of Lucilla that the girl doesn’t have a sensible bone in her body, but they say it with fondness- Lucilla is a product of the men that have fawned on her over the years at the Halfway Place and does not have any idea of who else to be as well as being a slave to her own, wildly unpredictable mood swings. As such, it is difficult for Lucilla to make and keep friends, especially those who really do want platonic friendship so she is devoted and indebted to her sisters, even if she shows that the only way she knows how, sporadically with disarming intensity.

Heloise Stretton aged 16 reserved for Amaya

Though the girls can never recall where they go or what they do when they are sleepwalking, Heloise sometimes remembers the dim flashes of her dreams; the feeling of earth between her fingers and sometimes, if she listens hard enough Heloise is the sister most attune to hearing the whispers of the Halfway Place. Between the three Stretton girls, Lucilla’s temper and Ludmilla’s illness, Heloise is the most overlooked of the family and she knows it very well. Heloise believes herself to be a desperately plain creature albeit with a sharp mind and a wild imagination. Unlike her family, Heloise is fascinated by the mysteries held within the Halfway Place and by the lives of its guests. Nobody was ever there to tell Heloise that curiosity killed the cat. Though usually a cheerful girl, Heloise has a real fascination for both the macabre; death and blood and the idea of ghosts and for romance and is the Stretton sister most likely to interfere in the personal affairs of others, inventing wild back stories for the guests and living vicariously through Lucilla’s love affairs. Her best friend is and has been for as long as she can remember Ellis Bell and the two are passionately devoted to each other, almost overwhelmingly so and the two are rarely out of each other’s company. Normally Heloise would tell Ellis anything, but at her sister’s insistence keeps their night time wanderings a secret from Ellis. As of late though, Ellis has grown sharper with Heloise, more furtive in his own right as though he had his own troubles to keep from his friend.

Ellis Bell, aged 17 reserved for Flight


Nobody knows much about Ellis Bell’s beginnings, least of all the boy himself just that Joss brought him home one day and told his children that Ellis would be living with them. Over the years, the girls- mostly Heloise- have developed wild stories about his origin; that Joss Stretton won him in a game of gin rummy, he is the child of a distant relation fallen upon desolate times, or the son of wandering gypsies who offered Joss a child for they had far too many. As it stands, Ellis knows nothing of his family, only that he has been a ward of the Halfway Place since the age of five years old; mopping floors, doing all the heavy lifting, treated like a servant by Joss though he is never paid. Since he has no parents, he likes to think of himself as the Inn’s and they have similar qualities. Ellis is prone to brooding, and can be stoic as the house- through he is in possession of a hot temper which is known to snap easily, of which his best friend Heloise can either soothe better than anyone else, or make worse than ever and the two are known for some tremendous rows. But Ellis adores Heloise, perhaps more than oxygen, to the point of obsession really which is why the slow curling realization that he grows more and more like Joss in looks every day fills him with dread and a deeper hatred for the old man, preventing him from acting upon his feelings for Heloise. No matter how hard he tries to keep his distance, Heloise always seems to keep him pulled in.

The Writer, aged 27 reserved for Kneedles

The smallest room on the third floor has been occupied for some time now by The Writer, an unobtrusive presence in this gloomy inn, more often like a shadow than a person. The writer is not a good man, he knows that, but he is not a bad man either- simply an observer. He watches the comings and goings of the inn through chinks in the doors, around corners and listens to the whispers carrying through the gaps in the floorboards and he documents them, almost endlessly, never seen without pen or paper in hand. These days though, his observations have taken a more direct focus, towards the family’s oldest daughter, Lucilla, blooming into womanhood among all the dead trees in the forest.

Benedict Stretton, aged 15 reserved for Kale
Benedict is a boy trying desperately to be a man, or indeed THE man of the house. Lucilla likes to say that he was born already middle aged and as serious as a heart attack. From the moment Ellis arrived at the house, he feels, the boy has been fighting an uphill battle against the ward of the house; his inferiority complex and hatred of Ellis runs deep into his veins. Benedict takes his duty seriously and sees it as his job to protect his sisters from their own tempestuous natures though they are more likely to laugh in his face than take anything he says seriously. Money is a constant worry to the boy who is always constantly worrying anyway- there never seems to be enough and he is terrified of anything running out. Knowing of his father’s shady dealings in the past and in possession of a warped but nonetheless obstinate moral compass, Benedict has no qualms from stealing from patrons, helping his father to water down the soup they serve at dinner and loading sawdust into meat pies to bulk them up a bit. He is also blessed with a keen eye and determined to catch Ellis in the act of something so unforgiveable that will see him banished from The Halfway Place and his families affections. His father and sisters do not appreciate what he does for the family, Benedict believes-and they will come to respect him, by any means necessary.

Miss Tracey, aged 35

The longest serving resident of the Halfway place, Miss Tracey married young and fled to the Halfway Place when her husband went after her with a carving knife and has been a permanent household member ever since. In the thirteen years of her habitation, Miss Tracey has seen the children grow, their mother descend into madness and finally succumb to it and is incredibly fond of them. The girls go to Miss Tracey to talk about their mother, who she knew quite well and of whom talk is forbidden by Joss. She is an incredibly kind hearted, talkative if not a little bit simple woman though underneath her chatty exterior is a bundle of nerves, either due her previous life or the creaking and whispering that filters through the Inn. Miss Tracey has not left the confines of the Halfway Place in thirteen years and sometimes trembles simply from stepping out of her room. The chickens in the yard are Miss Tracey’s, though she is happy for the family to use them.

Asher aged 20 and ‘Girl’ aged three months

Not two days ago, the first new customers for months and months arrived at the Halfway Place from out of the fog. At first it seemed to be a young man, carrying a large soft bag but as Lucilla was checking him in his case began to squirm and then to cry, revealing a mewling young infant. He calls himself Asher and he calls the baby ‘Girl’ because ‘she is one’, he is not creative type- just a very practical sort of person. Like The Writer, Asher has not revealed much about himself or how he came to own Girl though unlike the writer he has not hidden himself away in his room, or loomed creepily like a shadow and has always been polite and eloquent when spoken to. Heloise has seen him care for the baby with the most protective and tender of affections and, if you give her time, she is sure she will get to the bottom of the mystery.

Asher is a gentle sort and doesnt look tough at all, but he will honestly cut you if you so much as touch Girl or try to take her away from him.

(ooc, whoever plays Asher takes sole responsibility for the actions of Girl unless his player specifies otherwise in rp)

Carmella Stretton, aged 28

Wicked stepmothers only exist in fairytales don’t they? It would be childish to hate a woman simply because she replaced your mother and because she is closer to your age than your fathers. Born to the lowest of the low down loggers, Carmella escaped her father and his bullying ways by coming to work as barmaid when the children were younger where she earned her keep helping Joss out with the children before finally finding a place in his bed too- it takes a woman with real brains to do something like that, and Carmella is sharp as a tack and twice as organized- even in its depleted state the Halfway Inn would have been in worse shape if it weren’t for Carmella. Honestly, the Stretton family is indebted to Carmella since not long after she arrived Ludmilla began to suffer from her illness and Carmella has been her primary nurse every since. She is incredibly caring towards Ludmilla and over the years the two have grown very close- even if sometimes she is overbearing and over protective of her patient as well as a little bit of a control freak when it comes to the running of the inn. The only complaint Ludmilla has is that she is a terrible cook, and that the food Carmella gives her usually tastes strange and vaguely unnatural but nobody else seems to complain- probably just another part of her illness.

Joss Stretton, aged 45

The patriarch of the house, a large man of obvious lumberjack stock Joss seems like he doesn’t fit into the dead landscape- as lively as his daughters, with a large booming laugh and an obvious presence. But there are instances that make Joss as secretive as the rest of his family, men coming in side doors into the house, whisperings of patrons at the bar. There are several things that you do not ask Joss or risk his rumbling rage, particularly his first wife or where Ellis came from. All the same he loves his family, though he doesn’t always know how to deal with his daughters.

The old man in the green velvet coat
He probably has a name, but like The Writer he isn’t keen to reveal it. All the girls know is that he rents the room on third floor opposite the writer and that his hands tend to wander at dinner service- they draw straws to decide who his waitress is.

Beatrice Stretton

The Stretton children’s beloved mother. Dead for more than ten years…right?

While this plot isn't first come first serve, order will be taken into consideration. Honestly this is going to be great...we got dead people, a house that is practically an NPC too and I've got an impossibly large gothic horror back catalogue for inspiration